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extractor ???

Extactor ??
i see some 20 ga. ss and some 26ga. is the thiner 26ga going to work ok-good?
for those that have used a 3 med frame ext. and an 18 med ext. is it a lot harder spinning or just getting it up to speed. i can find about the same price on elect 3 frame as radial 18 frame mainal i have looked at dadnt-MANNLAKE-MAXANT.who else has them? as a neew be, 4-5 good working hives and 6-8 building up , what would bee the best way to go? when spinning by hand , how ling does it take per flat side then turn over and how long does it take as a radial, with both sides done at the same time? thanks for any help

Re: extractor ???

I've never used a hand crank machine, but it takes us most of the day to extract 9 or 10 supers in our 6 frame electric machine. That's 4 or 5 hives.
I wouldn't even consider hand crank unless you're kids need to be punished. Cranking for 6 hours just doesn't sound fun.

Re: extractor ???

Buy a 9 frame radial, load it with 6 frames each cycle...Takes 4 minutes to complete cycle. During those 4 minutes you can uncapp 6 more frames, Unloading extractor and reloading takes 1 1/2 minutes. Pouring honey from filter buckets into 55 gallon drum, 2 minutes. You can complete 5 supers per hour, (I use all 8 frame supers in 10 frame equipment.) .(Would take slightly longer if you use 9 frames in 10 frame supers, Will take a LOT longer if you use 10 frames in 10 frame supers. You will be picking and scraping a lot.

Mine is a W.T. Kelly 9 Frame Radial, I am totally a one man operation. You can save a little time, but not much, if you have someone helping you. You are still only going to do five supers per hour, one person just won't have to do everything.

I started with a hand crank and I would not recommend it, if you intend to keep 5 or more producing hives.

Re: extractor ???

I started out with a 3 frame hand crank (that gets old quick) I found a used 12 frame electric in a local trader paper for half price of a new one and have been useing it for 12 years or so (we, several club members come here and use my extractor) did 200+ supers last year, It will spin out 12 by the time you have uncapped 12 more.

If I was looking for a new one I would LOOK at Maxant realy hard=AMERICAN made

Ed, KA9CTT profanity is IGNORANCE made audible
you can`t fix stupid not even with duct tape

Re: extractor ???

We started with a 2 frame manual and used it for years. Then i got the Maxant 3100 manual. 6 radial with 3 tangential for a total of 9 frames. used as a manual a few times then upgraded it and added the motor. Now we can extract all we want to pull in a day's time. Let a friend borrow it and he extracted 325 - 350 gallons over the past couple of weeks.

Re: extractor ???

If you have 10-13 hives then you will probably continue to grow. I would buy a motorized radial from Dadant or Maxant (both American made) with at least a 12 frame capacity. It's more than you need now, but when you look back in a few years you will be glad you have it. I don't care for the radial/tangential combo. It's a creative concept, but only so they can squeeze more frames in a smaller tank.

Re: extractor ???

Look for a bigger used one. I bought a 32 frame dadant with an automatic speed control when I had only six producing hives for $2000. So what if it only ran a few times. It was only a little more expensive than a new small radial. I am real happy I got it as someway I miscalculated and will have thirty hives producing some honey this year. Some a lot if we get more rain.

Re: extractor ???

does any one have any exp. with a Brushy Mt. 9 frame elect. ? looks like $975.00 shipped Or mannlake 18/9 elect. $1195.00 shipped Iwill only be dooing med. frames and if i have to get honey out of a deep i can just do it by hand. . only 200. difference but bigger to clean up and i am guessing a longer drain time with more wast at the end. Or does that even enter in to it? I* have a friend that has the brushy mt one, i think. He used it once as manual and with his old age could not spin it fast enugh and then added the motor at about 100. more than if he had bought together. I can try out his and to do what little i have right now to ext. , anout 5 med boxes. I will try to me nice so i can use it untill i build up my bees and buy my own. What is a fire price to give him for using it if he will take any thing? I am in hopes to ext sat but we have been and are having a lot of rain in SW Fl. Is this goung to make any difference in the honey? thanks

Re: extractor ???

I am sorry, Maxant has an even bigger 20 med or 10 dep motor ext for 1495.00 not sure on shipping. Looking at an radial extractor i wonder if there 6 frame med with each 2 frames tuching in the radial will let it extract as good as ones with more room inbetween them. but it is only 745.00 do not know about shipping. I cas see the 20ga. geing much tuffer than the 26ga. ones . Time will tell for me once i use my friends. I do not like to borry things and if my bees works out and i wind up with 10 or so more hives it will be a bigger one like the 20 frame model.